What's that? You can't imagine a Toyota that might consider offering a fun, affordable, two door with a modicum of sportiness and some seriously interesting style? Might we introduce you to the Toyota FT-86 concept — the first Toyota (barring the epic Lexus LFA) we've been genuinely excited about since the... um... Supra? Wow, that took entirely too long.

A Legacy In The Front Three-Quarters
The original Toyota AE86 is a legend, offering the fun of RWD in an extremely light-and-tossable platform. Despite having econo-car dimensions, the AE86 was able to incorporate a sports car look with its long, sloping hood and a line carrying itself through the A-pillar. Click through to see how this element transformed into the final concept.

Toyota's Design Evolves In Profile
The RWD is teased in the Hofmeister Kink, which goes through quite the metamorphosis before ending up with a look that combines the wild integrated kink of the first sketch and concept with the practical C-pillar on the original coupe and three-door.

A Sexy Swoop In Back
The new swoopy design language on the FT-86 has less to do with the AE-86 and more to do with where Toyota is going as a company. The two-box design coming to a point at the rear evolves from the LF-A Roadster concept to something more dramatic on the sketch and concept before ending up with a design incorporating the same rotary look into the trunkline.

Looking To The Future Up Front
Toyota has lacked a distinctive front fascia for years, with little similarity between a Camry, Corolla and Avalon, to give just one example. Though you don't quite see the emergence of one in these drawings, it's clear with the introduction of the 2010 4Runner that Toyota is attempted, at least, to create a more aggressive look with the use of a trapezoidal shape.

Conclusion
The FT-86 in name and purpose is the heir to the AE86 legacy but is far more important to the brand. Though still a concept, this near-production vehicle is perhaps Toyota's best answer to Aiko Toyoda's complaint that the company has become distant from its customers.

The Toyota FT-86 concept is the fruit of cooperation between Toyota Motor Company and Subaru, and as such will wear a common chassis and some degree of engine commonality, at the least a 2.0 liter, four cylinder boxer engine dubbed the "C-45 Boxer" and making between 200 and 250 HP will power the rear wheels through a manual six speed transmission, and get this — no hybrid system. Saints be praised.

Perhaps most telling are the car's overall dimensions. At 163.7 inches long, 69.3 inches, a wheelbase of 101.2 inches, and 49.6 inches high, it's thankfully compact, smaller in length, width and height than the Nissan 370Z, and slightly longer in wheelbase. It's also the first car to wear Toyota's new swoopy styling with some gusto. Dare we say it, we actually like the look of it. It's... exciting, we're so confused here. The interior is obviously all show-car glam and may serve as direction, but we'll be shocked if there are many zippers on the production car's dash.

We're men enough to admit that combined with the recently unveiled 2010 Toyota 4Runner, we're about to shed a tear over what looks to be the return of the old, fun AE86 sports coupe-building Toyota.

With a political class comprised of imbeciles, Communists, thieves and a strong selection of imbecile Communists turned thieves who operate a hungry and comically inept state, Hungary is not exactly a success story in recent years. A refreshing exception to the general malaise is the local drift scene, which has grown by leaps and bounds since its birth around 2005.

Fueled by an abundance of BMW E30’s and inspired by AE86-o-philes braving the incompetence and plundering of the local postal and customs services to order specialist components from Japan, drifting happens all over the country. I have written about it before, but if you don’t consider a thousand words your friends, I strongly suggest watching this 3'35" video of a recent drift contest, held at the Kakucsring racetrack 30 miles southeast of Budapest. It was edited by whiz kid György Szeljak, whose work has been featured on Jalopnik before, and the only spoken Hungarian words translate to “pool party on Friday,” so don’t fret about volumes of Moon language.

Apart from that, it’s 215 seconds of noise, smoke, ratty Bimmers, suave tsuiso moves and incredible camera angles. Don’t miss the Jolly Roger joining the Hungarian flag on a rear wing tacked to the bootlid of an RX-8.

Both the 1986 Toyota Corolla GT-S and 1979 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine live in my neighborhood, so I've been forced to watch their respective downward spirals in recent months.


The Corolla parks on Alameda's main downtown thoroughfare, in a neighborhood packed with apartment buildings and businesses. Parking is San Francisco-grade maddening, especially when the street-sweeping parking tickets get dealt out, and tensions often run high. That means that the guy who owns this street-parked project AE86 is forced to play a game of automotive musical chairs with the car as he works on obtaining parts and fixing stuff… and the large quantity of cop-issued "move this car within 72 hours of git towed away" red-tag residue indicates that some of the locals are reporting the car as abandoned on a regular basis. It gets worse, though; after two years on the same block, it appears that enraged parking-space vigilantes have turned to vandalism to get their point across. It wouldn't bother me so much if we were dealing with just another Excel or Sable, but the GT-S is a genuine classic.

The story of this '79 Fleetwood limo is a little different. It's been anchored at the same spot for nearly a year now, and (since it's across the street from a mall and not in front of anyone's house) nobody seems to care. Could it have a trunk full of decomposing mob victims? Bales of banknotes? No doubt the reality is less romantic, but at least it's interesting to see a huge abandoned vehicle find a tow-truck-proof spot on Red Tag Island.

This car has been through some punishing experiences, yet it's still being used to haul groceries and has yet to fall into the hands of a kid who will howl "Hey y'all, watch this!" as he disappears into a haze of tire smoke. You can tell from the rust around the front body damage that the fender-bender wasn't particularly recent, but it still gets the job done and the owner hasn't had to put bodywork real high on the priority list.


We've seen a couple of other AE86s on the island, including this '85 and this '86, but this is the first one in the series with SR5 badging (and no JDM emblems anywhere to be seen).
This has been a great neighborhood for DOTS sightings; we've seen the '78 Dodge Colt, '87 BMW M6, and- best of all- the very first car in the series was photographed about 20 feet from this Corolla's parking space. And hey, can you spot the '66 Datsun 411 in the photo above?

As we all know, the problem with Japanese PCH cars is that parts are too easy to find, the build quality is too high, and Japanese engineers- particularly those working for Nissan, Honda, and Toyota- tend to design them to be easy to work on. Where's the fun there? Send those guys to Europe for a crash course in complexity, then to Detroit for some lessons in bean-counter-driven corner-cutting! But it's still possible to get yourself an inexpensive Japanese project that scores pretty high on the Cool-O-Meter yet will drive you absolutely mad- you just need to find something fashionably fast-and-furious that's had years of dodgy mods and rod-bending abuse… like, say, this 1984 Toyota Corolla SR5 (go here if the ad disappears), which could be yours for an offer probably well below the $1,200 asking. I know what you're saying: why get the 8-valve SR5 when you could have a GT-S with the righteous 4AGE? Hey, this one "needs a piston ring," which is Craigslist-speak for "a terrible noise happens every time I try to start it," so you'll have the opportunity to build your own engine with all the valves and boost a suitcase full of money can buy! And hey, it already comes with the all-important "carbon fiber eyelids" (though you're on your own for the equally important carbon fiber shift knob).


Watch the video above (shot from the Schumacher Taxi Service Corolla) and then try to muster up the usual "wrong-wheel-drive" quips! What you need is a Hell Project that, if when finished, will be a squirming, torque-steering, axle-snapping beast that will require luck as well as skill to keep under any semblance of control! Yes, we mean the AE82 CorollaGT-S, which came with plenty of howling 4A power to go with its weird sketched-by-an-8-year-old 80s-hatchback profile. They're not as easy to find as they once were, but we've spotted this '87 Corolla FX16 GT-S (go here if the ad disappears) with the same asking price as the AE86: $1,200. It has a 20-valve silvertop engine and some quasi-trick parts, but the seller states that the "motor has a blown head gasket which is not much to fix." Now, we often find that "blown head gasket" is Craigslist-ese for "smoke and/or chunks of metal pouring out the tailpipe and/or holes in the oilpan," but maybe that diagnosis is accurate- hey, stranger things have happened! Besides, the seller has a turbocharger "which we can probably work a deal on," so you can see what the logical next step would be.

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It's been lowered a bit and sports the obligatory large exhaust tip, but overall it looks quite intact. Perhaps it spent the first 20 or so years of its life as a sedate daily driver.


I saw quite a few of these emblems at the Motoring J Style show a month ago. Hey, do you think we'll start seeing Echos with Platz emblems? Avalons with Pronard badging?


Yes, that's a NorCal Drift Academy T-shirt being used as a seat cover; let's hope the owner of this car keeps the body in one piece and the engine block unventilated as he slides around the track.

The speculation points to the next generation Celica being produced by Subaru and coming in two versions: Celica GT and GT-4. Both will get the 2.0-liter boxer out of the WRX, with the GT-4 getting the 300 horsepower version of out of the STI and four-wheel drive (with in-wheel electric motors, if you can believe that). If rumor is to be believed, the new Celica will come in coupe and three-door hatchback form. Where it's sold, what it costs and when it debuts is all a matter of intuition and random guessing at this point. [AutoWeek.nl via World Car Fans]
(Photo of the FT-HS Concept)

As we all know, it's pretty tough to find a Toyota that's really suitable for this series. They're just too reliable and the parts are too easy to find, so the Hell component is weaker than we like. Still, the mid-80s Toyota Corolla GT-S does qualify, and not just because you know that every single one has had the absolute crap beat out of it by generations of lead-footed hoons. The real reason the flames grow higher as soon as you pick up an AE86, however, is that every single component of every single car has been thoroughly molested by clueless 19-year-olds with a $19.95 set of sockets and dreams of being the Drift King of the parking lots of (insert name of suburban shopping mall here). The surprises will never stop coming, no matter how long you work on it! Such is the likely case with this '86 Corolla GT-S coupe (go here if the ad disappears), which can be had for only two grand in American dollars. The car runs, but it "has low compression in the third and fourth cylinders" (probable translation: lean condition during application of HELLA NOSSSSSS has added speed holes to pistons and/or repeated overheating has blown the head gasket). There's the telltale litany of buzzwords (JDM, HKS, carbon fiber) that indicate both hoonage and tons of drifto-centric mods applied by a series of 19-year-old owners dating back to the early 90s. But... if you could clean up the mess and add engine sap via properly-done modifications, you'd be doing the 80s right- "Loopzilla" instead of "White Wedding."

The AE86 is a pretty cool car, of course, but these days it's akin to what the '69 Camaro was to my generation: just about the only old car that every high-school kid can identify. What if you want a hot Eighties Japanese machine without having to listen to 16-year-olds tell you all about it? And you want a car that's already set up for turbocharging, because you have a (probably unfounded) belief that you'll thereby be able to stuff more boost into it? In that case, this 1988 Mitsubishi Starion (go here if the ad disappears) is the correct infernal choice for you! Actually, this car might be a Dodge Conquest, as the seller doesn't quite make the make 100% clear in the listing. What is clear, however, is that this Mitsu has had the hood and headlight panel painted "SUNBURST ORANGE, 07 CORVETTE/HHR OTHER KNOWN AS MANDARIN ORANGE METALIC IT WILL LOOK REALLY NICE ONCE FINISHED." The turquoise air dam is a nice touch, too. The car doesn't quite, you know, run at the moment, but when you "spray starter fluid into the intake it runs and idles really nice it might have a bad pump and relay or something." Yeah, a turbocharged Astron motor, with its funky injector setup- you have to figure the problem is just a relay. No sweat! Nervous Nellies might shy away from statements such as "it would be a waste to just let it go to crap with the rebuilt motor by previous guy," but everyone knows that engine rebuilds done by the "previous guy" are always up to manufacturers' specs. Don't worry about those minor details, though; you need to picture yourself behind the wheel of this Starion with a nice paint job and 450 turbocharged Astron ponies under the hood.

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Hey, a JDM Sprinter emblem above the taillight...


...and US-market GT-S emblems on the driver's-side door.


I tend to think of this era as the final hurrah for really interesting Toyotas; sometime in the mid-80s, the company apparently decided to sell its soul in exchange for impossible build quality and reliability. Was it worth it?


But if they ever bring back the AE86, I hope they also bring back a retro-ized version of the '83-86 Tercel wagon.

If this story were confirmed, we'd have made the headline "TOYOTA COMES TO SENSES." But seeing as it's still in Rumor Defcon 2, we'll just say that consensus may be building within Toyota to create a small rear-drive platform in the style of its erstwhile AE86 Corolla GT. That car remains a favorite of drift king and street racer alike for its chassis rigidity, bulletproof 4A-GEC engine and optional limited-slip differential. What a modern version would look like is anyone's guess, but the sentiment would be more than welcome on Toyota's lot. And it would make Bumbeck lose his mind with delight. – Mike Spinelli

Japan Report: No Quelling Toyota AE86 Revival Rumors [Winding Road]

Related:
Calling All Truenos! Los Angeles Tofu Festival Looking For AE86; SUPER GLOBAL ALL-STAR DRIFTING BATTLE!; Projekt Update: JTuned's AE86 [internal]

As announcer, translator, and judge Toshi Hayama later informed us all, the hachi-roku is the sworn nemesis of eventual D1GP All-Star event winner Ken "Nomuken" Nomura and his 533HP R34 Skyline. Hachi-roku is Japanese for eighty-six, which in itself is the latter part of the Toyota Corolla's AE86 chassis designation.

At the heart of the hachi-roku is the twin-cam Toyota 4AG. Note individual throttle bodies for maximum effective air-flow and sonic amusement. The symphony of rotaries, inline-sixes, fours-bangers, and V-8's is what makes the drifting soundtrack worth listening to.

The focus of the All-Star event was for Japanese and US drivers to host drivers from other parts of the globe. Flag waving was thereby encouraged.

Representing Malaysia was Tengku Djan, who had encountered the wall on Saturday. D1GP founder Daijiro Inada empowers repairs by way of stylish suit. Find more Tengku in the gallery.

Team Orange drivers Kumakubo and Tanaka opened the D1GP All-Star Match at Irwindale Speedway by hurtling around the course Joie Chitwood Thrill Show style - in opposite directions!

Katsuhiro Ueo absolutely refuses to take his foot out of the throttle of his hachi-roku for any reason.

Closeup of Ueo's personal tire smoke ventilation removal system.

Djan's hachi got a straightaway spanking at the hands of Yoichi Imamura's Nissan 350z.

2005 All-Star winner Vaughn Gitten Jr. got his supercharged Mustang into the running but went out first round against Djan.

Ireland's Darren McNamara absolutely slayed in his turbocharged AE86. Watch for this man in the near drifting future.

Samuel Hubinette took the hemi-mo-powered Dodge Charger into the All-Star in a big way.

Rhys Millen disabled his turbocharged Pontiac Solstice during practice on Friday. The team rolled down to the shop and affected repairs for a return to the All-Star on Sunday.

Hey Pal, look where you're going. Actually Daigo Saito is looking back to see where his cobbled-by-a-cone opponent went. Low slung coolers and apex cones don't mix well.

The sound of the anti-lag system on Tsuyoshi Tezuka's R32 Skyline is alone worth the price of a ticket. The bumper is here showing effects of a wall grazing. The gallery holds more drifting goodness. – Mike Bumbeck

Related:
Team Orange Cleans Up at D1GP Final Round; Jalopnik Hits the D1GP [Internal]

Unlike other more circular forms of motorsport the rain did not stop this vehicular battle from proceeding. Many ponchos were sold and umbrella girls were cold at the asphalt bowl of echoing individual throttle bodies. Wet surfaces did bring some wall contact and a few drivers getting knocked out of the program before they could get in. Halfway through eliminations the skies opened once more but no matter to Tanaka. One by one the worthy competitors fell at his hands. Even Carl would have dug it. – Mike Bumbeck

Related:
Jalopnik Holiday Gift Guide: Kumakubo and Tanaka Endorse Antonio's Drifting Book [Internal]

Projekt AE86 is coming along nicely over at JTuned (in some societies, spelling things "wrong" is a sign of great wealth and power). Beginning with the thanks-to-the-vast-number-of-drift-wannabes-suddenly-difficult-to-find early Toyota Corolla chassis (AE86 to the cognoscenti), the boys over there have maxed out their credit cards buying virtually everything HKS ever made for the 20-year-old car. A set of rare Dori Dori wheels and Porsche white paint clean up the outside. Check back as the JTuned staff claim to have big plans for the little coupe.

Projekt EightSix #06 [JTuned]

Related:
Scion tC Transformation: A Tuner-Eye View; Tokyo's Tuners: Live from The Tokyo Auto Salon; It's CRX-Mas in July: Beloved Honda Model to Return in '07 [internal]